


Quoth the Raven

by Dont_Feed_Da_Elves



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Book Quotes, Gen, Harry Potter References, This is DUMB, hi im back on the thunderbirds train, i just love these brothers, no beta we die like men, virgil is confused please help this poor boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 00:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18354872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dont_Feed_Da_Elves/pseuds/Dont_Feed_Da_Elves
Summary: “We cross our bridges as we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and the presumption that once our eyes watered.” - Tom Stoppard,Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead





	Quoth the Raven

**Author's Note:**

> Did I just rewatch the entire Thunderbirds are Go! series in 3 days? You bet your ass I did.
> 
> Have I been rereading old and new fics since then? Fuck yeah.
> 
> Am I writing new fic for these wonderful bros feat. my favorite aquanaut and angst? You better fucking believe it.
> 
> No beta'd or proofread so read at your own risk.

Virgil knew that all hope was lost when Gordon’s fingers started tapping against the hood of the car he was sitting atop.

To be completely fair, he had lasted much longer than Virgil had thought. After being stuck out in the middle of nowhere for three hours, two of which he, Virgil, and John had been left alone while Scott and Alan walked back the way they had come for help at the gas station.

Just as well that they were all stranded without reception.

Still, Gordon had been blessedly quiet… until he became bored.

It was only a matter of time. Virgil let out a sigh from where he was leaning against the driver’s door, chin dropping to his chest. John’s blond head did not move from its position against the passenger’s headrest, the door wide open to let in the cool breeze. His eyes were closed, and Virgil envied his brother’s cool detachment from their predicament.

Gordon’s finger tapping got louder, no rhyme or reason behind it. Gordon himself didn’t even seem aware of the tick, copper eyes staring out into the desert horizon, mind a million miles away. It wouldn’t have bothered Virgil so much if there was an actual _beat_ to the taps, but the rhythm was completely _random_ and _out of time_ and Virgil was going to go crazy if they didn’t stop soon.

But, he reasoned, if the finger tapping stopped, then Gordon would be forced to find another outlet for his energy, and Virgil cringed at that thought.

They were in the middle of nowhere, and Virgil and John were the only people Gordon could… _annoy_.

Scrunching his eyes tight, Virgil was weighing his options when his thoughts were interrupted.

“Don’t feel sorry for yourself,” John’s voice floated through the open window at Virgil’s back. He started slightly, craning his neck to look around his torso at his brother. “Only assholes do that.”

On the hood, Gordon’s head snapped around, eyes wide as he stared at John. To his credit, John hadn’t opened an eye, and if Gordon hadn’t reacted the way he did, Virgil would have been sure that he had imagined the blond’s words altogether.

“What?” he asked.

But as it was, John seemed to have Gordon’s full attention now. Virgil turned so that he was facing the car, arms folded across the top, the metal warm under his skin.

John opened an eye, but instead of answering Virgil, he focused on Gordon. Virgil let his eyes slide over; Gordon was staring at John, expression unreadable.

“Tomorrow is always fresh,” Gordon said after a still moment, “with no mistakes in it yet.”

Virgil blinked. Had Gordon just quote _Anne of Green Gables_?

“It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that,” John replied a minute later.

Gordon burst out laughing. “ _Harry Potter_?” he chuckled. “Really?”

John merely grinned in response.

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked, frowning. “Gordo, I didn’t know you read _Anne of Green Gables_ …”

Gordon’s reply was a shrug, eyes flicking briefly to Virgil before resettling on John.

Okay… that was odd. As far as Virgil had been aware, the only books Gordon had read were _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ and _Moby Dick_.

“Your move, George.”

“Please, I am at least a James,” Gordon scoffed, though there was a hint of a grin on his face. Thoroughly confused, Virgil’s flabbergasted brain nearly stopped when Gordon went on to say, “It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.”

_H. G. Wells?_

John actually sat up at that, at full attention while Gordon remained smirking on the hood of the car. John’s eyes narrowed.

"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."

As Virgil watched, Gordon’s smirk dropped like a ton of lead. He glared at John’s smug face.

“What is this?” Virgil asked.

But, alas, he was ignored in favor of Oscar Wilde.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

John’s eyes flashed. “You’re going there, huh?”

Gordon held up his hands in mock surrender. “You started it, not me. All’s fair in love and war, Johnny.”

Pointing at finger at Gordon, John growled, “Wait your turn.”

Virgil was stood staring, thoroughly confused and questioning his place in this world.

Gordon shrugged, lowering his arms and leaning back on them, unfolding his legs from under him and stretching them out on the car. John was quiet for a moment before he answered.

“When a stone is dropped into a pond, the water continues quivering even after the stone has sunk to the bottom.”

Gordon catapulted himself into a sitting position, face distorted in a way that Virgil had never seen before. He glanced at John, and the blond seemed briefly apologetic… but that was before Gordon retaliated with, “It’s better to look at the sky than live there.”

Before he could even say a word, John was on the offense. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Gordon slammed a hand on the hood, causing Virgil to jump. Without waiting, he practically spat, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, _Horatio_ , than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Shakespeare… huh…

John seemed to pause, regarding Gordon with a cool, calculating look. The silence was tense, and Virgil was about to speak, to ask, once more, what in the world was happening, when John finally spoke.

“In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.”

Virgil threw up his hands, looking to sky for answers. The orange of the sunset did nothing to comfort him when Gordon replied with Steinbeck.

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”

“She says nothing at all, but simply stares upward into the dark sky and watches, with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars.”

“And in that moment, I swear, we were infinite.”

John burst out laughing this time, a rare occurrence that had Virgil questioning everything else he thought he knew. Gordon watched with a proud smile.

“Okay, okay,” John said, returning the grin when he collected himself. “You win.”

_Win?_

Gordon pumped the air. “Yes! What’s that make it, thirty-six to thirty five?”

John waved a hand in the air, settling back down in his previous position, shutting his eyes once more. “Yeah, yeah, go ahead and gloat.”

“Good round, though,” Gordon said, shifting himself so that his back was against the windshield as he crossed his arms behind his head and bent his knees. He propped one ankle on top of the the other knee and gently bounced his foot.

At least he wasn’t tapping his fingers any more.

“I have to say, I’m impressed with the Oscar Wilde. I wasn’t expecting that one.”

Virgil reached a hand to his forehead and rubbed at the spot between his eyes. He was going insane, that was the only explanation.

“I’m surprised about the copious amount of young adult genre you had,” Gordon said. He tilted his head slightly. “What’s up with that?”

John shrugged. “Alan left a bunch of books up on Five and I finished all mine before I came down. I had nothing better to do.”

Gordon grinned widely and shut his eyes as well.

“Are you two going to tell me what just happened?” Virgil asked, raising his head and looking at his two younger brothers.

“A game,” they replied in unison.

Now Virgil was positive he was losing it. And they called _Scott_ old. “What?”

“A _game_ ,” Gordon said slowly, turning to look at Virgil. “Something one plays for entertainment.”

Not in the mood for his brother’s antics, Virgil simply glared.

It seemed that John took pity and explained. “When Gordon… was in the hospital....” code for: hydrofoil accident… “He got bored when everyone was out and the only books the hospital had were children’s books. I lent him some of mine and we’d spend some time discussing them.”

“And then we’d pick out our favorite quotes,” Gordon added, settling back down against the windshield. “At first we tried quoting it and having the other guess the author. But it was too easy, so we upped the ante.”

“Retaliate with quotes,” John resumed. “Nothing’s off limits. But sometimes, the quotes hit too close to home, and those times end in a draw if it can’t be resolved. First person to admit defeat loses.”

Virgil looked between his two lounging brothers, utterly flabbergasted. He had no idea that John and Gordon even _talked_ , let alone did… _this_. It was rare that the two got along, their interests and personalities clashing more often than not. Gordon was loud, outgoing, and clingy. John was quiet, introverted, and didn’t like human contact. Gordon loved the sea and John adored the sky. The two of them were rarely seen alone, and it was even rarer to seem them talking voluntarily together outside of business-related affairs.

The two of them just clashed in every way, but to see them playing a game-a _literary game_ -was enough to make Virgil’s head spin.

“And you two do this all the time?” he asked, frowing.

“Yup,” Gordon said, popping the “p”.

“Is that a problem?” John asked, and the slight defensive tone of his voice had Virgil blinking.

“No, not at all,” he said. He scratched the back of his neck. “I’m just surprised that Gordon voluntarily reads past the tenth grade level on his own.”

“I’m not stupid,” Gordon frowned, sitting up and leveling a stare at Virgil.

“That’s not what I meant,” Virgil replied, backtracking. Finding himself on the end of two angry brothers who normally did not team up was suddenly unsettling.

“Then what did you mean?” John questioned.

“Just… that Gordon, you surprised me, is all. I wasn’t expecting it. Why didn’t you say something, I love H. G. Wells.”

Gordon grinned at him and held up a finger. “One must be careful of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”

Virgil threw up his hands at the loud laughter erupted from his brothers and decided the world had gone mad.

**Author's Note:**

> Too lazy to source the quotes. It's also been, like, 3 years since I last wrote for like, anything so I guess I'm just a lazy bitch on a good day.


End file.
